CC Sabathia hits 3,000 strikeout milestone as Yankees fall

PHOENIX — In the end there was relief. After missing the mark by 14 strikeouts in 2018 and coming up just three shy in his last start, CC Sabathia just wanted to get to 3,000 career strikeouts. In the second inning Tuesday night, Sabathia got John Ryan Murphy, his former Yankee catcher, to swing on a changeup down and away.

With that strikeout, Sabathia entered the territory of truly elite pitchers. In the 150th season of Major League Baseball, he is just the 17th pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts. He is the third left-hander and the third Black pitcher to cross that threshold.

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“Being the third lefty is just incredible,” Sabathia said. “Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton. That’s amazing to be the third person.”

His march to 250 wins, however, will have to wait another day. Zack Greinke retired 14 straight hitters and the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees 3-1 at Chase Field.

Sabathia is just the third lefty in baseball history with 3,000 Ks. (Matt York / AP)

That snapped a three-game winning streak for the Yankees (17-12), who finish the interleague series against the Diamondbacks (16-13) Wednesday afternoon.

“A game that dates back to the 1800s, to be only the 17th guy to get to 3,000 is amazing,” Yankee manager Aaron Boone said. “So tonight, obviously frustrating. We lost. But tonight is about celebrating the man and what’s been an amazing career. I’m just really happy for him.

He also joins Bob Gibson and Ferguson Jenkins as the only black pitchers to reach 3,000.

“Being a black ace is something I take very seriously, being one of the guys who won 20 games, so being on that list with 3,000 strikeouts, it’s hard to grasp,” Sabathia said. “To think about, it’s cool to be on that list.”

In the moment, Sabathia was trying not to think about it. In fact, he didn’t want it to happen to Murphy, who caught 15 of Sabathia’s starts when he was with the Yankees.

“When I actually got that last strike, I didn’t want it to be Murph. Me and him we’re really close,” Sabathia said. “I didn’t want it to be Greinke and I didn’t want it to be Murph.

“Like I said earlier, not really for me to say my place in history. That’s for everybody else,” Sabathia said. “I just go out and play as hard as I can. I leave my numbers out there, they are what they are and hopefully one day they’ll be good enough to get in.”

Of the 16 other pitchers with 3,000 strikeouts ahead of him, only two — Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens, who have their own special baggage — are not in the Hall of Fame.

“Hall of Famer. He’s a Hall of Famer,” Boone said. “This is one of those big numbers. There are a handful of numbers in our game – 500 homers, 3,000 hits, 3,000 strikeouts, 300 wins, which is kind of going away — those are numbers since the 1800s that I think instantly kind of qualify you from a longevity standpoint. And then you follow it up with just how good of a pitcher he’s been, how dominant he’s been at times in his career, how he’s been able to evolve to the kind of pitcher that he is now … to me he’s a no-brainer.”

Sabathia got David Peralta looking and Christian Walker swinging to lead off the second, before former Met Wilmer Flores homered and Nick Ahmed singled. Murphy was ahead 1-0 before fouling off three straight pitches. Sabathia got him to miss on an 84-mile an hour changeup low and away.

“I threw the cutter up and he fouled off. I was like OK, if I throw a good changeup right here, I got a good chance of striking him out,” Sabathia said. “Gary called it, it was one that cut, but ended up being a pretty good pitch.”